I'm back from the 'old days' too, 'round 97 I suppose... Have a few different views on a few things than I had before. Ol' Fosgate used to go on and on and on about how heredity is as important a part of how healthy you might be as your diet, if not more influential. Well, I lost my dad to cancer that has a 40% chance of passing genetically, and everyone on my mothers side of the family, even cousins, are having problems with blood clots, and are all on blood thinners-- fat, thin, heahty, smokers, non-smokers, everyone... But my grandmother on that side is now 84 and doesn't appear a day over 70 (there's hope!!!) I originally got off of these forums after Linda McCartney died, because that really took the wind out of my sails. I was quite a hard-core vegetarian. I am still a vegatarian(selectively, more on that), and I won't drink cows milk, because I've found that the thing that really gets me the most is factory farming... I'll eat meat now, if it's from a source that I KNOW, and can verify that the animals were treated humanely. There's a buffalo farm near my house, and my boss knows alot of private farmers. I've gotten buffalo, lamb and beef from diffferent soucres, after confirming their environments and seeing that they were, indeed, "happy". My pets also reap the benefits, they are all raw-fed(prey-model diet). Seeing the benefits of their diets cause me to think even further on my own... If I had someone to enforce the will-power on me that I enforce on my very happy pets, I'd probably be as healthy as they are... But until someone can lock me away and only feed me things that are good, well...

My other pet-peeve now is the pet food industry. I was a vet tech for 5 years, but after seeing all the bull pucky and horrible downward spirals only furthered by vets and their fallacies that originated in archaic research, I got out of the trade and am now a dental lab tech. I only have to be around 3 people every day! How great is that?!?! AND they're all hunters, and I'm totally cool with that (particularly when they bring me carcasses for my pets)

It's good to be back, and I'm glad to see that Fosgate is still here, even though he drove me absolutely CRAZY and I wanted to hit him on the head with something for a few years... It just took me a few years(ok, to catch up with the rest of the world, and realize that lo and behold, he was RIGHT (don't let your head inflate).

So sorry to hear about your family's health. I've lost friends and family to cancer since the "old days" and am now seeing a close coworker battle it out full force with daily radiation and weekly chemo. I know how you feel. One way I deal with it is daily reflection on my own good health, giving thanks for it, and doing everything I can to stay healthy.